blipper67

craigthom

Audioman1 wrote:These would make nice surrounds but If you don't know a lot about sound systems you better pass on these. These are 6 olm and you will need a special amp to run these not just a surround receiver.

My main speakers are 6 ohm nominal and I've had no problem driving them first with a stock Yamaha receiver and now an Onkyo. They are not special receivers.

mrln

blipper67 wrote:Many designs have tried this omni approach, some with backward firing tweets. They are now history.

Which means absolutely nothing.

There are plenty of excellent designs that did not become dominant and/or lacked commercial success. The majority does not always indicate dominance across all criteria. Some even came into dominance after years of being a novelty.

You're happy with your more conventionally accepted designs, good for you. Someone in a massive loft wanting a couple of excellent sounding and nice looking speakers to listen to music, and maybe something a little different, might be served very well with a pair of these.

bek

I had Klipsch Legend surround sound setup for a few years. The sound quality was excellent, and they'd shake your house down if you listened too loud, but I sold them on ebay. Keep in mind, there seriously are other factors than sound quality. Do you have room for them? These floorstanding speakers take up room. Do you live in an apartment? Do you plan to move at some point (somebody's gotta carry these things).

For me, they were overkill. I researched and found an excellent set of bookshelf speakers that can handle real sound, and all 5 speakers (not the sub) only cost me $1000 total. Just a few things to consider. You can still have great sound without monster speakers.

oliverhound

There are plenty of excellent designs that did not become dominant and/or lacked commercial success. The majority does not always indicate dominance across all criteria. Some even came into dominance after years of being a novelty.

You're happy with your more conventionally accepted designs, good for you. Someone in a massive loft wanting a couple of excellent sounding and nice looking speakers to listen to music, and maybe something a little different, might be served very well with a pair of these.

Anyone who knows anything about serious audio knows there are many many excellent designs and ways to get the job done. The big problem is each audiophile is convicted to their own view of what is best and than expects their own rigid view to be imparted on everyone else. Are these real fine speakers? Sure they are. Are they well made and will they support many types of music? Sure they will. The real question is once they are in your home will you be pleased. In most cases I am sure yes and in some cases no. Like going to a fancy restaurant. All the rave french restaurant may be considered not so great fo many. This whole thing is very subjective. In the end, these are fine loudspeakers. And like any fine Loudspeaker or fine wine or fine meal, it is not going to be perfect. You can spend $10,000/pair on speakers and pick those apart too. This seems like a pretty darned good deal to me all be it, I am sure they are not perfect.

tigerxchaos

Wow. Until I read this thread, I simply didn't believe the stuff people said about "audiophiles". Thanks, lorenzodemedici... guess I was wrong.

As someone who has sensitive ears and classical music history, a (down-to-earth) audiophile for a dad, a $1000 pair of studio monitors, and a $30 set of Logitech computer speakers, I can tell you that most of the time, my $30 Logitech 2.1 set sounds almost as good as my dad's stereo rack and high-end $1000-a-pop speakers.

Audiophile butthurt aside, if you have a lack of common sense, an excess of money, and a dearth of things to spend that money on, by all means start investing in high-end home audio. You won't be disappointed, as long as you take steps to never realize that you'd have been better served buying a hundred tanks of gasoline, taking a trip to an exotic destination, or paying for Christmas dinner for every homeless person in Chicago for what you dumped into your precious little stereo that allows you to think you can hear "every individual voice in the choir".

ipeverywhere

What's the difference between an audiophile and everyone else? The audiophile is listening to the equipment and everyone else is listening to the music.

I'm tempted to get these because the price is excellent and I really want to hear them. By "them" I mean the speakers. Every audio component has a sound, or tone, to it. The goal is to reproduce a performance you heard live or to expose every bit of detail on a studio recording. There are more factors than just the speakers to make that happen but the speakers ultimately make the sound so invest as much as you can. I'm sure these are good but as others have already said you get diminishing return because you need proper source material, amplification, room acoustics to get the best out of them. That's an investment in time and other hardware. If you don't see the point don't invest the cash but for those of us that find great joy in revealing layer after layer of detail in a recording it's a never ending quest to that perfect sound. I've taught the girlfriend how to listen to the equipment. She hates me now because she finds shortcomings in all her headphones. It's not a hobby for everyone.

With all that being said... Anyone using these as surround speakers? Doesn't Dolby standard require speakers above your head for proper placement?

cowboyesfan

kr4 wrote:I have not heard these in a few years and they may not be worth their list price anymore. However, they are high-quality speakers which would be a decent value at the asking price, particularly if you liked their omnipolar sound. Since their release in 2007, there have been advances in speaker technology and there are, also, web outlets offering deep discounts on the newer designs but, if you liked these speakers before and could not afford them, this is a great opportunity.

OTOH, if you have no idea why anyone would spend this much (or more) on a speaker, they are not for you. As others have said, you will only enjoy what they have to offer with proper ancillary equipment and careful setup. They will not run off your laptop.

Luxury17

jlagraff wrote:Does anyone know if a speaker like this could be used for an acoustic guitar? I'm not sure if there is something fundamentally different with home audio sound systems other than they're just not tough enough to handle a live big room situation.
If this could be used for an acoustic guitar, what would be a good amplifier to use? Dual use would certainly increase the market for these.

Yes, it would work but would not be the best sound. If your going to sink $899 into this speaker, you might as well buy an actual acoustic amp that's actually meant for acoustic guitars. You can get a decent acoustic amp for that price at your friendly music store.

lwang

SurplusHP wrote:Remember back when you could go to an electronics store and they had a quiet room where the salesman would run a switch and let you listen to all the different speakers?

Good times.

run a switch? most i know have a rack of banana plug holes and they insert plugs into the appropriate holes depending what amp/speaker set you want to listen to.

or some that requires an appt, not for being snoot, but so that they can set up that one pair of speaker in that room and hardwire it, this way, there are no other transducers to color the sound. i did walk in once and the set me with an appt in 1/2 hr just for that. i had to tell them what components i wanted to audition.....and back then it was some mid-fi rotel stuff.

trishbooher

jlagraff wrote:Does anyone know if a speaker like this could be used for an acoustic guitar?

Yes, and they would sound amazing. Amazing for the occasional coffee shop performance or continuous home studio monitor use. The difference in PA vs HT use is the durability of the shell/box. These are designed to sit in one location and be enjoyed. A rack mount amplifier system (dual amps with separate crossover and EQ) would compliment them well. Just match the speaker specs with the amplifier specs (Stereo) and you will do fine.

gworrel

blipper67 wrote:As an audiophile and home builder of high end speakers using premium drivers for over 30 years, I wouldn't touch these. For starts, I want a directional tweeter, one that allows my ears/brain to set up a good sound stage. That means left to right, front to back.

I think they're selling a gimmick and at $889 a piece it's a bit ridiculous.

Anyone who uses the expression "fast bass" should be disqualified from making recommendations about speakers. Bass is slow. If it were fast, it would be treble.

Isobarik designs are almost never used and are generally considered a waste of a good driver. Many premium speakers and high end subwoofers use ported designs. It is an excellent way to extend the low end.

As someone else has pointed out, when measuring omnidirectional speakers it is extremely difficult to get meaningful results because you are not capturing the full output of the speakers.

As far as omnidirectional speakers, check out the Pluto design by Siegfried Linkwitz, arguably one of the most distinguished speaker designers in the world. This Mirage speaker reminds me very much of the Pluto which gets excellent reviews.

teutonicnite

I took the plunge on these largely because of the price. I've been shopping used B&W 805s because I love the sound but can't stomach 5K for a pair of new 805Ds. I broke my cardinal rule of not listening to speakers prior to purchasing but we all know how different they can sound with different placement/room configurations. I look forward to hearing these and seeing what the old Rotel amp can bring out of them. Of course, these won't be as "spouse friendly" as bookshelves on stands...

datcracker

teutonicnite wrote:I took the plunge on these largely because of the price. I've been shopping used B&W 805s because I love the sound but can't stomach 5K for a pair of new 805Ds. I broke my cardinal rule of not listening to speakers prior to purchasing but we all know how different they can sound with different placement/room configurations. I look forward to hearing these and seeing what the old Rotel amp can bring out of them. Of course, these won't be as "spouse friendly" as bookshelves on stands...

A risky proposition but everyone's ear is different. Perhaps these will sound just as sweet as their price. A 2007 article about these speakers priced these very speakers at a MSRP of $7,500 a pair. I'd have been interested in these Mirage speakers but I got a sweet deal of 40% off on some Definitive Technology Mythos ST a couple of years ago. They're a perfect compliment for my primary HT setup and music listening. I did however listen to them as well as others in my quest for the right speaker.

texdrum

This is the best/worst speaker ever made. You should/shouldn't buy a pair......

Don't trust anybody that tries to come across as having the definitive opinion on speakers.

Mirage is known for making a good product. My only experience is a 5.1 Omnisat system on display in a store. They were impressive for their size. The omnidirectional design was great for what they were designed to do (home theater in a small package).

Without hearing these in person, it's hard to determine if these are right for you (don't take someone else's opinion). Speakers are such a personal decision; opinions shouldn't make a speaker sound any better or worse to you. Stereophile gave my speakers a mediocre review (which is rare for them to give anything less than glowing).

ichief

Yeah, but you didn't have the Internet back then to shop around and find deals. You pretty much walked into the store paid what the store was asking with some exceptions. Today, one must rely on reviews.

Reefer451

These are fantastic speakers and that is a great price. I would have bought them in a heart beat but the deal was over by the time I found out about it.

These are big speakers, meant either for a stereo pair or the main left & right speakers in a home theater setup. The efficiency is rather low so they need a 200+ watt/channel amp to drive them.

There are other speakers in the OMD lineup that are meant to be used with these as center/surround/rear speakers. I have two OMD-15 mains, OMD-C1 center and four OMD-5 surrounds/rear speakers in my home theater. The imaging is spectacular.

Bear in mind that Mirage was bought out by the holding company that owns Klipsch among others and they are no longer being made.

carlwu

Just received and setup this speaker. Not broken in yet, these speakers immediately struck me as having a wide and deep sounstage, and the most "musicians-in-the-room" feeling I have ever heard. So far so good!!!

sakiwebu

carlwu wrote:Just received and setup this speaker. Not broken in yet, these speakers immediately struck me as having a wide and deep sounstage, and the most "musicians-in-the-room" feeling I have ever heard. So far so good!!!

morbidcorpse

carlwu wrote:Just received and setup this speaker. Not broken in yet, these speakers immediately struck me as having a wide and deep sounstage, and the most "musicians-in-the-room" feeling I have ever heard. So far so good!!!

Both of mine arrived damaged. I opened a case a week ago with woot and thus far, I've heard nothing back

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